Ilario Ferrari - Be Yourself (2023)

'Be Yourself' is the third album as band leader for the UK-based, Italian pianist and composer Ilario Ferrari. After Spread (2016) and his very well received album 'Childhood Memories' (2021) with his trio he is embarking on a new adventure born out of a friendship and collaboration with the Neapolitan 'Ondanueve String Quartet'. This project will be released on the 21st April 2023 and brought live in a UK tour that will combine his trio, the string quartet and video projections in a series of unique performances that will explore and challenge the boundaries between Jazz, chamber Music, and sounds of the world. 'Be Yourself' is a quest into the meaning and feeling of being-ness that seems to underline all our experiences. The Music is moved by a deep spiritual question: 'Who am I?' It is a sort of mantra that has inspired the Italian composer over the years during which he has moved to the UK and composed this work. Ilario wishes to leave this question open and let the Musical experience to facilitate an answer that is invariably different from person to person and from time to time. As composer he was fascinated by the possibility of creating an album that would both acknowledge the varied classical literature for piano quintet while exploring the possibility of Jazz improvisation, interplay and modern rhythms between piano and strings. So he composed these two ambitious suites, the second one after his journey in India and the relationship with his partner of south Indian origin. The first suite is based on a classical Rondo, freely interpreted, while for the second suite he has created a personal version of an Indian Yantra to inspire the structure of the work. 'Be yourself' is a celebration in music of our inherent uniqueness and search for an authentic self-expression, but also of our feelings of being Interconnected with a larger Universe.